Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-27
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
In many countries, paying for things using mobile phone (cellphone) apps is becoming increasingly common. Does this development have more advantages or more disadvantages?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
In this modern world, digital payment is widespread than using cash for purchasing something, I believe it has many advantages.
It helps to alleviate the problems with carrying much amount of money in pocket and being robbed. carrying much amount of money in bag or pocket does not give comfort.
additionally, sometimes the thing you want to buy may be much higher than from the money in your hand so, you may change your mind not to have it, but if you are using mobile phone (cellphone) for paying, it helps to pass this kind of challenges.
In flip side it has its own demerit because unfortunately your mobile phone battery may get drained by the time you want transfer money so, you could not get what you want to buy.moreover you may spent on unplanned amount of money when you are completely rely on digital payment but py cash may limit your interest even.
In conclusion, using mobile phone for for paying a bill has many advantage despite there is some disadvantage so using both in balanced way by concidering its disadvantage is the effective way.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
You take a position that mobile payments have more advantages and give relevant reasons, including avoiding the need to carry cash and being able to pay when a purchase costs more than the cash available. You also acknowledge a disadvantage: a drained phone battery. However, the response addresses the task only partially: the ideas are brief and are not supported with specific examples or explanation, and the conclusion shifts towards using both methods without clearly weighing which has more advantages. The response is also below the required 250 words, leaving limited space to develop the argument. To strengthen it, explain the consequences of each point and add a relevant example before giving a consistent final judgement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is a basic overall structure: an opening opinion, discussion of benefits, a contrasting disadvantage, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “additionally,” “moreover,” and “In conclusion” help signal these stages. However, the progression within the body is not always clear, and the ideas are compressed into long, loosely connected sentences. For example, the point about having insufficient cash moves quickly from changing one’s mind to mobile payment without a clear explanation. The contrast marker “In flip side” is also awkward, and punctuation and spacing make some transitions difficult to follow. Use separate paragraphs for the main advantages and disadvantages, and connect each claim to its explanation with clearer referencing and more controlled linking.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “digital payment,” “carrying,” “robbed,” “battery,” and “unplanned,” so the reader can understand the main ideas. There are also attempts to express more specific concepts, such as “alleviate the problems” and “balanced way.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are unnatural, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear: “much amount of money,” “pass this kind of challenges,” and “spent on unplanned amount of money.” Spelling errors such as “concidering” and “demerit” further reduce accuracy. Build a more precise set of phrases for discussing convenience, security, overspending, and technical problems, and check spelling and natural word combinations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response attempts some longer sentences, including a conditional idea beginning “if you are using mobile phone,” and uses simple clauses to communicate the main points. However, the range of structures is limited, and complex sentences are often faulty. Errors in articles, verb forms, agreement, and sentence boundaries occur frequently: for example, “your mobile phone battery may get drained by the time you want transfer money” lacks “to” before “transfer,” while “you may spent” uses the wrong verb form. The opening also joins clauses with a comma, and several sentences begin with lowercase letters. These errors can make the reader pause. Practise accurate sentence patterns and punctuation, then proofread for articles, verb forms, and complete clauses.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.